FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT NOISE

Eastside Costa Mesa is about to get another Starbucks, the third in about a 2-mile stretch off 17 t h Street, but this one is different. This one has a drive-through. Housed with what used to be a credit union, the location at 450 E. 17 t h St. was not without controversy. "More than 60 residents of Cabrillo Street have written letters to the City Council opposing the (drive-through) aspect of the proposed Starbucks," Councilwoman Wendy Leece wrote in a request to review the project.

The frustration and fatigue in Stacy Schofro’s eyes is unmistakable. Along with her family, Schofro is one of the last holdouts living in a cluster of homes right next to Trinity Broadcasting Network’s distinctive white building near South Coast Plaza. Schofro, along with a small group of neighbors who have all sold their Life Styles development houses to TBN and left, has been fighting the network for nearly 10 years now. She said the facility’s noise and the bright light emanating from the strings of perennially hung Christmas lights have made her life miserable.

All this fuss about Dennis Rodman is a bit out of line, but when it comes to fun, typical Newport Beach says if you hear noise, call the police. But I do feel sorry for the neighbors late at night. I remember the '50s and '60s, when a lot of the now old-timers drew some big crowds on Balboa Island. And over on the peninsula, remember the infamous Bird Club? They started the wet T-shirt contests right in our Back Bay at the annual tricycle races.

The year's first quarterly noise report was released Friday by John Wayne Airport Director Alan Murphy. The report, covering the first three months of 2001, documents noise levels caused by departing and arriving jet aircraft on the homes and businesses under the flight path. Using 10 monitoring stations, six of which are in Newport Beach, airport officials measured the Single Event Noise Exposure Level caused by the planes. Commercial aircraft must meet noise caps imposed by the airport's 1985 settlement agreement with Newport Beach.

Newport ordinance may indeed affect change I don't know if it will do the trick by changing the procedures of what happens when people don't obey the law on noise pollution ("Newport officials have last word in noise issue," Wednesday), but I think it's fair. If someone has a party, I think they should be accountable for the noise that they make. The rest of us only have one or two parties a year, and we usually tell our neighbors and invite them. If we make a lot of noise, and the police have to come out because we're bothering the neighborhood, then we should quiet down a little bit. So, I think that this is a fair change.

Deirdre Newman The Pacific Amphitheatre is rocking again, and so far, no eardrums have been harmed as a result. Neither the city's Code Enforcement Department nor the Police Department has received any complaints about the refurbished venue, which began hosting nightly concerts on Friday as part of the Orange County Fair's concert series at the fairgrounds. Some in the surrounding Mesa del Mar neighborhood -- where, in the past, frustration over loud noise levels produced noise restrictions -- said they couldn't even hear the concerts.

Deirdre Newman NEWPORT-MESA -- The Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees is close to ratcheting up its pressure on county officials to address the effect of increased flight noise at John Wayne Airport on district schools. The county is considering three scenarios for increasing the number of flights, passengers and facilities at the airport. District staff have been discussing the issue over the past year. Trustee Wendy Leece raised the issue at Tuesday's board meeting, saying she would like the board to adopt a resolution against any noise that would have an adverse effect on learning in any of the district schools.

I believe it is time someone defended the attacks made against John Wayne Airport concerning the noise. I live in Santa Ana Heights and I hear planes all of the time. I don't mind the noise at all and enjoy having an airport nearby. The airport is good for business and leisure travel, and encourages growth. In short, it is financially good for the county and good for us for having the convenience of having a small airport in our neighborhood. We know it, the politicians know it, and that is why John Wayne Airport is not going anywhere or will ever change.

readers say Should the city agree to enforce noise restrictions? Definitely. Let the city take over. It's about time somebody did. I live on Vanguard Way, which is right across the street. For years, we used to hear beautiful music. We don't hear it anymore. Let's bring it back. Let's eliminate the noise at 11 or 12. Let's set a restriction. Let's keep the entertainers coming in. It's a cow pasture now. We don't need cow pastures, we need an amphitheater with restrictions.

The Newport Beach Planning Commission is expected to vote tonight on whether or not to give Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian permission to shift up to 225,000 square feet of building space from its lower campus, which stretches along West Coast Highway, to its upper campus bordering Newport Boulevard to build a new 300,000-square-foot tower there. The commission is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. at Newport Beach City Hall. Residents of the Villa Balboa condominium complex next to the hospital want Hoag to make amends for noise and air pollution they claim the hospital generates before the hospital gains approval from the city for the project.